The 114th Congress convenes tomorrow and GOP leaders are preparing their to-do list for 2015, when they will control both the House and Senate. Republicans will hold 247 of the 435 House seats, the biggest GOP bloc in 84 years. In the Senate, the party will have 54 of the chamber’s 100 seats. The new Republican majority is eager to dismantle key Obama Administration policies on immigration, environment, healthcare and elsewhere. First up will be a bill approving the Keystone XL pipeline, which President Obama has threatened to veto. Next, lawmakers will move to overturn the President November action easing immigration deportation policies. GOP lawmakers also plan to grill the President’s defense secretary and attorney general nominees and try to block the Administration’s new Cuba policy. Similarly, Republicans are expected to push for large changes to Medicare and a repeal of the Affordable Care Act, which the President has vowed to block. More likely to succeed are piecemeal attempts to change the health law. A prime candidate is repeal of the 2.3 percent medical device tax, which is expected to gain bipartisan support. The House passed a repeal measure last year, but the measure stalled in the Senate. Republicans are also expected to push narrower measures aimed at redefining the law’s definition of full-time work from 30 to 40 hours per week, repealing the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB) (charged with recommending Medicare cuts), and possibly delaying the employer mandate.
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